X Marks Turning Point

Denver's Big Play A Surprise To All

MIAMI — For the second straight year, the Denver Broncos made magic with a master stroke of football execution and imagination.

The result: The perfect play at precisely the right moment, against an opponent in the midst of a fatal lapse.

Last year's drive to the Super Bowl was saved in the AFC championship game at Pittsburgh when quarterback John Elway threw in a long-forgotten play not in that day's game plan, a pass to Shannon Sharpe for a first down that rescued the Broncos.

Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, Elway and the Broncos' imagination yielded an even more potent surprise.

The Falcons had driven 65 yards to the Denver 8-yard line before missing a field goal early in the second quarter. As the Denver offense waited, Elway and coach Mike Shanahan disregarded the game plan and decided that on first down, no matter where they were on the field, they would launch "Keeper X Post."

"The play wasn't even in the game plan," said Broncos receiver Rod Smith, the "X" on the play. "We put it in standing on the sideline."

While the Denver offense knew exactly what it intended to do as it ran on the field, the Atlanta defense was about to shatter. As Elway faked to running back Terrell Davis, Smith started straight upfield from the right, then ran a post pattern toward the middle, where Elway found him mismatched in single coverage by Eugene Robinson.

The Atlanta safety, much like his entire team on this evening, never had a chance. Smith caught the ball and went 80 yards for a touchdown, his longest gain of the year, to give Denver a 17-3 lead.

"We were trying to get the defense changed and we got caught up where half the secondary was playing one thing and the other half something else," Falcons linebacker Jessie Tuggle said. "We tried to change at the last minute, but the cornerbacks didn't hear the call. Denver ran perfect play-action and then hit us right down the middle. That was the play that killed us."

More than that decisive play killed the Falcons. Denver's 457 yards of offense was 100 more than the average allowed by the Atlanta defense, and the victors' 34 points were more than any opponent had scored on the NFL's fourth-ranked scoring defense all year, including postseason.

Atlanta committed to stopping Davis and at least survived its encounter with the NFL MVP and its latest 2,000-yard rusher. Davis finished with 102 yards on 25 carries.

But their attention to Davis put the game where the Broncos were more than happy to have it: in Elway's hands, where where it has been so many times. Several times in the first half the Broncos used five wide receivers and no backs on second down, turning the game into an exercise in flag football.

No one is as good at that game as Elway.

"Like they said, they wanted to make John Elway beat them," Smith said, then sniffed. "Well, he did."

The Broncos shredded the Atlanta defense without tight end Shannon Sharpe, lost on their first possession with a torn knee ligament. In his place, seldom-used tight end Byron Chamberlain caught three passes, as many as he caught in the entire regular season, and recovered an onside kick.

Chamberlain didn't play in the Broncos' Super Bowl win last year. But the moment went exactly as he and best friend Davis had often imagined.

"When Shannon got hurt, `T.D.' was the first to come up and say, `This is the opportunity we've always talked about,' " Chamberlain said. "I knew I had to step my game up. I knew in the passing game that the ball was going to be coming to me. I knew the tight end was going to play a big role."

Elway finished with 18 completions in 29 attempts for 336 yards with a touchdown, an interception and the MVP Award.

"He played great," Sharpe said. "The old man still has the gift in him."